Five Arsenal stars get the boost Mikel Arteta has been waiting for

Mikel Arteta may well be a happy man that it is the international break. Football fans rarely like to see domestic action stopped so soon into the season but it comes at a good time for Arsenal.

They have not yet hit full steam and criticism over playstyle, tempo, and ambition was rife following the narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool. The fact that transfer deadline day came straight off the back of that match has also helped Arsenal.

There has been too much attention on matters elsewhere to really dive that deeply into the aftermath of Anfield. Arsenal will now have two weeks to be mainly out of the footballing news cycle as focus shifts to World Cup qualifiers.

For Arteta and his team, this should come as a relief. There has been immense pressure piled onto the Gunners after yet another expansive summer of deals with one final step left to be taken.

Despite two wins from three with a pair of clean sheets in there, Arsenal are still having to answer questions around their view to the eye. A reliance on set pieces and struggles to generate chances only increases the narrative around Arteta's defensive approach.

That will now be on the back burner whilst players go far and wide to represent their countries. It is the visit of Nottingham Forest up next for Arsenal, and they are in a strange position themselves.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side have had a chaotic summer which left the manager's position in doubt. They started the season well but just lost 3-0 to West Ham. Deadline day brought another range of signings.

Arsenal will welcome them with issues to sort out but Arteta can have confidence that the break will bring benefits. 17 of his players are away on duty, 15 of those in senior action.

There are only seven from his first-team squad who have no been called up and five of those are due to injury. Kepa Arrizabalaga and Ben White are the only two without clear fitness issues and even then, White has been in and out of the team this season with a continuation of his own regular setbacks.

Christian Norgaard had a knock prior to the Liverpool game and did not make the bench. William Saliba was taken off within four minutes after alerting the medical staff to a niggle in the warmup. Bukayo Saka remains sidelined with a hamstring strain.

Kai Havertz needed minor surgery on his own hamstring with Gabriel Jesus a long-term absentee. The hope is that Norgaard and Saka will be fine to go after the break.

The severity of Saliba's twisted ankle remains to be seen. He had to withdraw from France's squad and was replaced. Fortunately, Martin Odegaard's worry from the win over Leeds United was not bad enough to see him left out at Liverpool, where he came on as a substitute.

Arsenal will have to deal with long journeys back from South America for Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Magalhaes, and new signing Piero Hincapie. The rest of his players are in Europe.

It is never good to have a lengthy list of injuries, especially to key players and especially early on in a season, but Arsenal will be happy to essentially have a 'free' two week rest and recovery where no competitive club football is being missed. Arteta will need to make the most of it.

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